Chuck vs the Captured Agent
by daily.random.musings
Summary: When an unknown CIA agent is captured by Fulcrum, Team Chuck must race against the clock to save her.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, nor am I in any way connected to NBC or any of its affiliates. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Summary: When an unknown CIA agent is captured by Fulcrum, Team Chuck must race against the clock to save her._

**Chuck vs the Captured Agent**

The sound of a fist making contact with flesh rang loudly in the dimly lit room. A young woman's head swung back from the impact, as the large fist made contact with her jaw. The owner of the fist, a heavy-set, wide-shouldered man raised his arm to execute another stinging blow, but was stopped by a harsh command from the other side of the room.

"Enough. I need her to be able to talk and she can't do that if you break her jaw."

Striding towards the woman, he signaled for the other man to stand back.

He squatted down and ordered the captive woman to look at him. From beneath blackened lids, bleary blue eyes stared resolutely at the man.

"Where is Bryce Larkin?" He demanded.

"I've already told you, Paul, Bryce is dead." Even with her mouth badly swollen, she managed to deliver the words in a calm and firm voice.

"You were his partner for a long time. Surely, he would keep in contact with you."

"He might, if he were alive." The woman tried to hold the man's gaze, but faltered as a spasm of pain racked her body.

Slowly, the man rose from his position and made eye contact with the man lurking in the shadows. Giving a curt nod, he began to walk away. The sound of her muffled cries and the pounding of flesh resumed as he made his way to the exit.

Leaving the makeshift interrogation room, he reported to his superiors who had been watching through the one-way mirror.

"She's not talking," one of the men in the room stated.

"She won't last much longer. She'll crack," Paul said with confidence.

"You've had her for days. She's one of the CIA's best operatives. You won't break her."

Paul looked like he was about to retort when the second man, who had been silently watching the exchange, raised his hand to speak.

"We need leverage. Search her apartment, Paul. Find something."

* * *

Paul had been tearing through the apartment for the better part of an hour. He had found weapons, an assortment of clothing, books, but not much else.

Disgusted and sweaty, Paul picked up the discarded books, shaking them roughly, hoping that a stray scrap of paper or anything else fell out of the pages to give him something to go back to his superiors with.

Cursing the woman for having damn near a hundred books, he continued his search. More than halfway through the stack, his diligence paid off when a single sheet of folded pair fell from the pages of "Scientific and Engineering C: An Introduction with Advanced Techniques and Examples."

He carefully unfolded the wrinkled paper, noting the 0's and 1's on one side, and on the other, a brief letter written in a somewhat messy scrawl.

_"There are some days when I get up in the morning and wonder how the heck I got so lucky to find someone like you. I don't know why I'm writing this all down when I could probably just tell you in person. I just… sometimes, when I look at you, I lose the ability to think clearly and to say what's in my heart. I'm scared that you won't say it back and even more afraid that this has all been some sort of wonderful dream and I'll wake up from it and realize that none of it was real. _

_I probably shouldn't be doing this (although it doesn't matter anyway because I've just decided that I'm definitely not going to give this to you), but…_

_I think I'm falling in love with you. _

_Wow. It looks so odd to see it in writing. O.K. Yeah, I'm definitely throwing this away. I'm going to meet you later anyway at our special place on the beach, so hopefully I can work up the courage to say all of this to you in person._

_Chuck"_

After reading the hastily scrawled signature at the end, a satisfied smile appeared on Paul's face.

"Let's find out who this Chuck is."

* * *

_A/N: So this is my first foray into Chuck fan fiction. I've recently becoming obsessed with the show and after reading so many stories out there I thought I would try my hand in writing one. I hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think! I always appreciate comments and suggestions. The next chapter should be done shortly._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Chuck, Sarah and Casey were at Casey's apartment being debriefed after another successful mission. Fortunately, Chuck did not serve as a human shield this time around, but unfortunately, he didn't stay in the car and was forced to hide underneath a leaky garbage dump bin when the inevitable shooting ensued.

He still reeked and Casey wouldn't allow him to sit anywhere, so he was forced to stand on a spread of newspapers by the door.

Once Sarah and Casey gave their report, General Beckman informed them that the threat had been neutralized.

Director Graham, noticing Chuck's placement in the room, asked, "Did you encounter any problems on the mission?"

A short beat of silence followed his question, during which time Chuck shifted awkwardly and tried to pretend that the ceiling above the screen was taking up all of his attention.

"No, sir," Sarah stated firmly. Beckman looked directly at her agent and Casey shook his head, his expression carefully blank.

Without further comment, the screen blinked out.

For a humming moment, there were no words spoken.

Suddenly, Sarah whirled around and marched over to Chuck. Her voice rose as she began to lecture him on proper protocol and the importance of doing what he was told to do. Finally, after a rather long five minutes during which time Chuck's posture became more and more slouched in a vain attempt to get away from Sarah's yelling and Casey smirked broadly in the background, she stopped.

"Next time Chuck, stay in the car." The last was said, not at full volume as the rest of the tirade had been, but with a feral sort of tone that promised retribution. Chuck nodded vigorously.

Casey shook his head and interjected, "CIA, let it go. Chuck can't help it if he's an idiot."

"Hey, listen, I am not an idiot. I'm the one who recognized the arms dealer and told you where those Russian mafia people were making the transaction."

"As you so succinctly put it before, the intersect does most of the work and you just spew out the data."

"Casey, I'm a person, you know… you should… ah..." Chuck's voice trailed off with a sort of helpless shriek at the end as Casey walked toward him, eyebrow cocked and stride purposeful.

"Enough, you two. I need to stay behind to firm up the written report. Chuck you should go home and clean up."

"You think you can handle going to your place by yourself?" Casey asked sarcastically.

"Haha. You remember that remark when Morgan and I talk about what sort of sandwich we should ask for as part of a reward if we were ever on Survivor." With that last parting shot, Chuck left the apartment.

He was thankful to finally be getting home to wash up. He did not smell good. He was so preoccupied thinking about all of the _things_ that could be seeping into his skin right at that moment that he didn't notice the two men approach before it was too late.

Silently, the men grabbed him even as Chuck struggled to get out of their grasp. A gurgling noise emitted from his throat, but before he could shout out, a strip of duct tape was placed over his mouth, followed by a sack of some sort over his head that obscured his vision.

As the men dragged him off and threw him into a vehicle, his last coherent thought was, _Maybe Casey was right… I really can't handle walking all the way to my front door without getting into trouble_.

One of the men grabbed his arm and rolled up his sleeve. He felt a tiny pin prick before he knew no more.

As the vehicle drove off, the agents inside the apartment heard nothing as they quibbled about some detail that they were putting in their report, never knowing that their charge was no longer safe.

* * *

_Back in the interrogation room_

The captive woman was passed out.

Paul made his way over to her and grabbed her face with his hands, shaking her awake roughly.

Slowly, the lashes raised and pain-filled eyes met Paul's cold, dark ones.

"We're going to try something different."

The woman braced herself for the blow that she thought was coming but was surprised when Paul made no move to hit her.

"Where is Bryce Larkin?"

"I've already told you. He's dead. What do you want with him anyway?"

"That's not really your concern, now is it?"

"You can beat me all you want, Paul, but it doesn't make Bryce less dead. You're wasting your time."

Paul stepped back and walked towards another corner of the room. Squinting her eyes, the woman could make out a figure slumped over in a chair wearing black pants, a dirty white dress shirt and a skinny tie with a sack over his head. She didn't recognize him.

"Maybe your friend can help jog your memory," Paul said as he reached the unmoving figure.

Weary now, she watched as he ripped the bag from the person's head.

She involuntarily sucked in a breath as she recognized the dark, curly head as it lolled back and forth after the cloth was removed.

Too late, she knew that Paul had noticed her reaction.

"Do you think your friend Chuck here knows where Bryce is?"

Raising her chin slightly, she looked defiantly at him. "I doubt it as I already told you, Bryce is dead."

"Let's just see, shall we?"

Paul struck Chuck's face a number of times. The sedative they had given him was a fairly low dose and he came to in a matter of minutes.

"Stop, stop," Chuck gasped as Paul hit him again.

Paul finally stopped punching him and asked, "Do you recognize the woman sitting across from you, Chuck?"

Chuck's ears were ringing and his vision was slightly blurred, from the drugs or from being knocked around, he wasn't sure. He finally focused on the badly beaten woman with long, dark brown hair and pale skin sitting across from him. Her features were obstructed by her curtain of hair.

"Look at him." Paul ordered sternly.

The woman didn't move.

Irritated, Paul swung his arm, backhanding Chuck pretty hard, and the woman unwillingly jerked her head upward at the sound of Chuck's cry of pain.

Trying to catch his breath, Chuck managed to look up into familiar blue eyes.

"Jill?" He whispered.

* * *

_A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! I am trying to stay true to all of the (known) characters, so please let me know if there is something missing/needs to be changed. I always appreciate comments and suggestions. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

As Paul smiled menacingly in the background, the two former lovers stared at one another in shock, a myriad of thoughts racing in their respective heads.

Fear pumped through Chuck as he stared at Jill, the image of her from his past superimposed on the woman that she had become. Terrified that they knew who and what he was, Chuck's first instinct was to open his mouth and talk, to somehow barter with the people who had taken him to let Jill go.

Before he could begin to babble, he was interrupted by Jill, "Don't say anything Chuck."

Paul hit Chuck again and derisively said, "Listen to your friend. We're not interested in anything you have to say. We want information from Jill and you're just a means to an end."

At Paul's statement, the string of words that Chuck was about to say came to a staggering halt as his mind became jumbled with confusion. _Why would they want information from Jill? What's going on?_

Chuck could hear Paul taunting and threatening Jill, but he had stopped listening to the words. His eyes were trained on the woman sitting in front of him. Long dead feelings came flooding back, along with a crushing feeling of helplessness as the gravity of their situation came shuddering down on him.

He continued to stare at Jill as she, in turn, glared unflinchingly at Paul. As her body followed Paul's movement, Chuck saw the long scar that ran down her left arm and…

_Images of Jill with a gun chasing after someone through the woods _flashed in his mind. _Bullets were flying and one grazed her, but she continued to pursue her target, tackling her quarry and then putting a bullet in his head._

As the flash ended, Chuck stared at her in shock.

Finally, he tuned back into what Paul was saying.

"So, you're going to tell us where Bryce Larkin is or you'll soon find the walls stained with your old lover's blood."

At that statement, Chuck's anxiety went into overdrive. _Oh god, Oh god._

All of the pieces started to click in his brain. They were looking for Bryce and had probably captured Jill because they worked at the CIA together. He deduced that they had found him through his connection with Jill and that _his _capture had nothing to do with him being the intersect. Otherwise, they would have stopped asking about Bryce and would have taken Jill out already.

The new insight into what was happening did not ease his mind; in fact, his hysteria multiplied ten-fold. _Oh god, they're going to REALLY hurt me, _was the single thought in the forefront of his mind.

"Why don't you two get reacquainted… tell him how his life isn't worth spilling your intel on Bryce. Time's ticking."

With that statement, Paul exited the room.

Breathing hard, Chuck asked the question that was expected of him, "What's going on? What do they want from us?"

"They're looking for Bryce, Chuck."

Silence followed her statement. Chuck didn't know whether to tell her what he knew. Turning, he looked at the mirror on the far wall, pretty sure that it was one of those two-way deals that he often saw on Law & Order and all those other crime dramas.

"Can they hear us?" He asked just to make sure.

"Most likely." Jill, too, stared hard at the mirror.

Only Chuck's heavy breathing could be heard in the room.

Finally, Jill broke the silence. "Aren't you going to ask?"

Chuck stared at her.

"I don't know what to say. I don't know what's going on."

He didn't want to ask anything for fear of giving away the fact that he already knew. He knew everything, and yet he was supposed to know nothing.

His head was reeling, not just from the shock of being taken or the fear gushing through his veins, but from being confronted with Jill and the knowledge that she, too, was a spy. _Had his whole time at Stanford been a lie? Was any of his past real? _Chuck tried to quell the feelings of betrayal that lanced his heart and, instead, tried to focus on the here and now… and what they had to do to get out of this awful situation.

"Do you think anyone will find us?" He asked.

"I don't know."

As the silence stretched, Jill waited for Chuck to pelt her with questions and was surprised when he didn't. It made her job easier, though, as she knew that she could reveal nothing to him.

Staring at him, she couldn't believe that they had found him. Fear was a live thing inside of her as her mind sought to find a way to get herself and Chuck out of this, preferably alive.

She had been undercover, gathering intel about a suspected terrorist when she had been snatched. No one knew where she was except for her superiors. Although she had lost track of time in the dark room, she was fairly certain that at least a week had passed since she was captured. If that were the case, then she would have missed her regularly scheduled, biweekly progress report meeting with Director Graham.

As she stared at Chuck and the four walls that surrounded them, she hoped desperately that missing a routine check-in would arouse suspicion and that someone would start looking for her. It was their only chance to get out alive.

* * *

_A/N: The story is much darker then I had originally intended. I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews, comments and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated. Thanks! _


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

"Morgan!"

The short, bearded man gave a jump and stopped making kissy faces at Anna at the sound of Big Mike's booming call.

"Hey, Big Mike! How can I help you?"

"Where's Chuck? He was supposed to be here before the store opened to pick up an early shipment. Delivery guy left a sticky note to say no one was here to open up. He has a lot of explaining to do."

Morgan's eyebrows rose. "Wow, that's really not like Chuck. I mean, I know he's been a little weird lately but he's usually on top of these things. I'll find out right away."

"You do that, Morgan. Tell him if he's not in my office in fifteen minutes he's going to be spending his lunch breaks for the next month in the cage doing inventory!"

With his threat hanging in the air, Big Mike took a huge bite of his danish and walked back to his office.

Morgan gave a half-hearted salute before grabbing his cell phone and hitting speed dial 1. He listened as the phone went directly to voicemail.

"Hey, buddy, it's Morgan. Man, Big Mike is _pissed_. You were supposed to be here early to let some dude in for a delivery. Where are you? Get over here as soon as you get this message."

As he hung up the phone, he couldn't quite ignore the nagging feeling that something was wrong with his best friend.

Opening up his phone again, he pressed speed dial 2 and waited. After a couple of rings, someone picked up.

"Hello."

"HI, Ellie. It's Morgan. Listen, is Chuck there? He was supposed to be at work today and Big Mike is looking for him."

"Sorry, Morgan. He wasn't here when I got home from my shift." He could hear rustling sounds over the phone.

"Yeah, I'm in his room. His bed doesn't look like he slept in it, do you think…"

Before Ellie could finish her sentence, a wide, knowing grin plastered itself on Morgan's face.

"No worries, Ellie. I think I know where he was last night. He said he and Sarah were going out yesterday, you know, as friends. I guess they got a little friendlier then they thought that they would!" Morgan did a little happy-dance at his last statement.

Rolling her eyes on the other end, Ellie said good-bye. As Morgan shut his phone he went half skipping, half running over to the Nerd Herd desk to share the news with Lester and Jeff.

Casey, who had been lurking near the appliances, had overheard the entire one-sided conversation. With his face set in grim lines, he gave a quick glance to make sure no one would notice him leaving, and made his way over to the Weinerlicious.

As he entered the restaurant, he saw that Sarah was just finishing up serving a bag full of greasy corn dogs to a number of equally greasy teenage boys who were ogling her.

Rolling his eyes, Casey crossed his arms and waited for her to finish up.

The boys turned once Sarah gave the customary Weinerlicious "farewell, come again" greeting and, noticing Casey and his forbidding stance, gave him a wide berth before leaving the store.

"Casey, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be watching Chuck at Buy More."

Casey made his way to the counter. He lowered his voice and said, "That's the problem, Walker. Chuck's not at work today. Big Mike made a stink about it and Morgan tried to reach him on his cell."

"Did he?"

"Would I be here if he did?" Casey remarked gruffly.

"Let's try Ellie."

"Mighty Mouse already thought of that. Turns out Chuck never made it home. Morgan's doing a little jig with the rest of the nerds because he thinks he spent the night with you."

Sarah's eyes widened at Casey's last statement. "We need to find him, Casey." She reached under the counter to take out the hand-held device she used to keep track of Chuck's GPS unit.

As she turned it on, her communicator gave two short beeps, signaling that Director Graham was paging her.

Placing the hand-held device on the counter, she grabbed her pager and read the brief message on the screen.

She looked up at Casey with dread. "We have a problem."

Sarah and Casey raced into the Buy More and quickly made their way into the Home Theatre Room. Seeing Jeff taking a nap, Casey picked him up and wordlessly dumped him outside of the room, shutting and locking the door behind him.

Jeff pounded on the door for a moment until Casey opened the curtains a little and glared menacingly at him. Jeff, upon seeing the look on Casey's face, turned and made a beeline back to the Nerd Herd desk.

The television panel came to life suddenly and Director Graham's troubled face appeared on the screen.

"Agent Walker. Major Casey. There's been a breach in security. One of our agents hasn't given her bi-weekly report and we're unable to readily determine her location. I have assigned agents to find her, but we suspect Fulcrum is behind the abduction. It is essential to get Chuck and secure the intersect. We will put him in one of our safe houses until such time that we deem the threat has been eliminated."

Sarah started to interject, to tell her boss that Chuck was missing when she was stopped by Graham.

"We will not, _I repeat_, we will not put him in one of our holding facilities. He is not being extracted at this time, so hold your objections."

"Why do you think it's Fulcrum?" Casey asked.

"Nearly three months ago some of our data files were compromised. Information about Bryce, everything we have in our general database, was accessed. We set up a surveillance on any agents that we were concerned would be targeted but nothing happened. Until now. The agent that was taken was Bryce's former partner. We suspect that they're looking for Bryce."

Director Graham finally noticed that there was a tall, gangly presence missing in the room.

"Where is Chuck?"

Casey and Sarah exchanged a look, before Sarah explained the situation. She tried to give her report in an unaffected manner, but even she could hear the thready quality of her voice as she struggled not to let the fear that was swamping her escape.

"What part of your mission about protecting the intersect did you forget, Agent Walker!"

It was Casey who surprisingly stepped in. "We had no reason to suspect anything untoward would happen to Bartowski. He was just walking the dozen steps to his own home from my apartment."

"Be that as it may, we must find him. NOW!"

Both agents nodded affirmatively and, even as the screen blinked out, Sarah grabbed the unit from her pocket and keyed in her pass code. Her hands shook slightly as the map displayed on the screen.

"Looks like he's moving west bound. Let's move, Walker."

Instead of stalking away as was the norm, Casey grabbed Sarah's arm and led her out of the Home Theatre room. He paused to make sure that any and all intelligence equipment was properly secured.

Sarah followed wordlessly.

Even with his hand grasping her wrist tightly, she couldn't help but notice that Casey's hand trembled slightly.

There was no mistake. They both knew it. They had to find Chuck. Soon.

* * *

_A/N: I hope you're enjoying it! Thanks to all those who commented, especially to Go Chuck Go who mentioned this fic on TWOP! Thank you!!_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: There is a tiny bit of swearing later on in this chapter. Sorry if it offends anyone!_

**Chapter 5**

_Back in the interrogation room_

The silence had stretched on for what felt like hours. Finally, the door opened again and Paul walked in.

"Well, that was very disappointing. No questions. No last minute requests to get Jill to tell us what we want to know to spare your life."

"I don't even know what you want," Chuck stuttered.

"I guess your old friend Jill wasn't that forthcoming with information. All that CIA training, I suppose. You did know she was an agent, right? Bryce Larkin was also a CIA operative. They were recruited while they were at Stanford - around the same time you attended and when you were, coincidentally, Bryce's roommate. That is, until you were unceremoniously kicked out. Leads us to wonder if you know where Bryce is."

Chuck, flustered and scared, started to babble incoherently.

To stop Chuck from talking, Jill cut in: "Bryce is dead. I already told you."

"We have intel that says otherwise."

"I went to his funeral," Chuck sputtered, finally able to come out with a coherent and believable sentence. "I saw his obituary in the paper."

"The newspapers lie, Mr. Bartowski. We know that Bryce is alive. We had him in our custody after Major Casey shot him in the chest. We kept him alive for months. Then he escaped. He vanished like smoke."

Shifting his stance he looked towards the mirrored wall, and out through a darkened doorway came a sharp-featured man, wheeling a metal cart with various deadly looking instruments strewn on top.

"My very old friend here is going to do very bad things to your old friend, Jill, until you give us the information we want. He can be very, very persuasive."

After a brief pause, he continued. "We know Bryce is alive, Jill. Your denial is worthless."

Jill stared hard at Paul, the revelation that Bryce was still alive starting to sink into her brain.

Chuck, meanwhile, could not tear his gaze away from the man with the metal cart. As he drew closer, all of the saliva in his mouth dried up and he was seized with a flurry of images depicting this man and images of suffering and terror. Before he could stop himself, he whispered, "Malach Hamavet".

Fortunately, no one noticed his slip up as Paul and Jill were locked in some sort of battle of wills/staring contest.

Paul smiled sadistically at Jill, knowing that he had the upper hand. "Start talking. Soon. Your friend doesn't look like he has much in the way of a pain threshold."

With that, he broke eye contact and left the room.

The old man looked at Chuck, noting the fear etched plainly on his face. "Let us see what we can do to persuade your lady friend to tell us what she knows. For your sake, let's hope she will be willing to speak quickly. Otherwise, you will be begging to let death take you before I am through. Shall we begin?"

His smile was mirthless as he reached for a small hammer on his cart.

_A/N: Translation: __Malach Hamavet – Hebrew for "Angel of Death"_

* * *

_Casey and Sarah are in an SUV tracking Chuck's signal_

Casey had his foot pushed firmly on the gas pedal as they sped through mid-day Los Angeles traffic at break-neck speed. Sarah shouted directions even as her eyes stayed glued to the small, blinking dot on her hand-held unit.

Tense minutes passed as they drew nearer to the signal. They had been driving for several miles and were soon leaving the city limits.

Some time later, they were on a narrow stretch of road when they spotted a lone vehicle that matched the location of the blinking dot on her screen. Casey accelerated as Sarah put down the device and reached for her weapon. In hot pursuit of the unknowing vehicle they managed to force it off of the road rather quickly.

Sarah was out of the car before it had made a complete stop and had her gun pointed at the driver. Casey was less than a handful of steps behind her and had his gun trained on the second individual in the front seat.

"Raise your hands, nice and slowly. I haven't killed anyone lately so I'm getting a little antsy." Casey growled as he opened the passenger side door. Sarah did the same and the two individuals cautiously stepped out of the vehicle. They were forced to lie down on the floor, face to the ground, while the government agents frisked them and confiscated their weapons.

As Sarah restrained the driver, she saw Chuck's watch strapped to his wrist.

"Where did you get this?"

"Screw you, bitch!"

Anger gave added strength to Sarah's already effective punch.

She ignored the man's cry of pain and asked again, "Where did you get this?" She practically ripped the watch off of the man's hand.

In the background, Casey had restrained the other person and contacted other agents to meet them at their location. They were only a few minutes behind them as they had also been tracking Chuck's signal. He took the captured men's identification and related that information, as well as the license plate of the vehicle they had been driving, to the people on the other end of the phone. Hanging up, he wearily stepped to the back of the vehicle and unlocked the trunk.

Taking a not-so-steady breath, he opened it. A mixture of relief and fear flooded him when he saw that it was empty.

Schooling his face, he returned to the man currently handcuffed and lying on the floor. He roughly dragged him off the ground and threw him against the car.

"We could do this one of two ways. In about five minutes a whole lot of agents are going to be here and they're going to want to question you. You can either be conscious and have all of your limbs intact, or be bleeding from every orifice in your body by the time they get here. Choose."

The man that Sarah was shaking roughly for information yelled out to his companion.

"Keep your mouth shut!"

The man ignored him and stared at the furious eyes of Casey. He gulped audibly and started to speak.

"I said shut up!" The man on the ground yelled again. Disgusted with him, Sarah gave a final blow to his head that knocked him unconscious. Leaving him there, Sarah got up and made her way over to Casey.

The two agents surrounded the man, closing him in a tight circle.

"Where did you get this watch?" Sarah asked, holding the item up to the man's face.

"This guy we picked up."

"Picked up, huh?" growled Casey and he gave him a quick shove against the car.

"Listen, we got big bucks to pick up this guy at his house. Just an easy grab. Pick him up, throw him in the car. That's it. We didn't hurt him."

"So he came willing with you?" Sarcasm dripped from Sarah's lips as she stared hard at the man.

"No, it wasn't like that. My brother gave him a shot of something. And then we dropped him off where we were told to. That's it. No big."

"You snatch an unsuspecting and unwilling civilian walking to his front door, drug him, throw him in a car and it's no big deal?" Revolted, Casey slammed his fit into the man's gut.

Coughing, the man fell to his knees. "It was just a job. Easy money."

Sirens could be heard in the distance as a line of four SUVs came driving up the road.

"We're going to get a little more information from you. Then you get to live. For now. But if something happens to our guy, there's not a single place you can hide that I won't find you."

The man looked at Sarah's eyes, the blue points sharp and cold as ice, and he nodded mutely. His fear was palpable. Although Casey's strong arm tactics could hurt him, he knew it would be Sarah's wrath that would kill him.

Casey continued to question their suspect, while Sarah walked away, needing a moment to settle her thoughts and to calm her racing heart. She knew that the chances of finding Chuck safe and unharmed had plummeted dramatically. Closing her eyes, she fought to keep the desperation at bay and do her job.

She heard, rather than saw, the other agents arrive. Taking one last steadying breath, she turned and made her way over to them.

They needed more information, and they needed it fast. Chuck was counting on them and she had a feeling that time was running out.

* * *

_A/N: Wow, this chapter was a lot more difficult to write then I had first anticipated. Hopefully I am doing all of the characters justice and not turning them into caricatures. Thanks for reading.  
_

_Also, it was pointed out to me that the scene with Malach Hamavet was very similar to a scene in a movie (I think it's called True Lies). Very, very sorry! I will try to edit it at a later date to make it more original. No copy right __infringement __(or lack of imagination!) was intended.  
_

_As always, comments, feedback and suggestions are always welcomed :-)_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Please note that there is a torture scene later on in this chapter. I apologize if this offends anyone._

**Chapter 6**

Sarah approached the waiting agents and gave them a quick breakdown of the situation. Midway through her recitation, Casey joined her, having gotten as much information as he could from the remaining conscious suspect.

It wasn't much. But maybe, it would be enough.

"He gave me the location of their drop off point. The guy sang like a canary. Unfortunately, he could only tell me that the name of their contact was Paul, no last name. Let's search the system for known Fulcrum agents. See if we can't get a hit."

At this statement, one of the agents left the group and hurried towards the parked SUVs.

"Meanwhile, let's take the information about the drop off location and compare it to the missing agent's last known coordinates. We need to narrow the search area, people. California's a big damn state."

Other agents joined the group, carrying maps, laptops and other electronic equipment.

Casey continued dictating orders. Sarah said nothing, allowing him to organize and prep the other agents on their plan of action. After all, he had more experience than she did, having spent the last decade hunting out hidey holes of targets that didn't want to be found and taking them out.

"We should stick to non-residential areas, stay away from apartment buildings, areas with high foot-traffic, large urban centers and suburbs. They won't hold an agent there. The chances are too risky that they'll get caught or arouse suspicion."

Sarah stared pensively at the maps. She wished desperately that she could just flash on the most likely location and just get there. She shook her head as the word _flash_ made her think immediately of Chuck. She forced herself to focus back on the information they had, and with the rest of the team, worked to pinpoint possible sites.

In a short amount of time, the team was able to narrow down the search grid to a much smaller area, with several that looked like ideal hot zones.

"Let's break up into teams and investigate each one. Your orders are to approach the locations discretely. Your priority is to get the civilian and the CIA agent out quickly and alive. Remember folks, we want a clean grab."

"Walker, with me."

Sarah nodded at Casey and followed him to their vehicle.

"We're going to this location." He thrust the map into Sarah's hands. "Look over the blue prints. Note the points of entry, location of elevators and the best rooms to hold a prisoner or two. I've highlighted a few areas already."

"Why this one?"

Sarah stared at Casey over the hood of the SUV.

"It's the one I would choose. Our search parameters aren't perfect. I can guarantee we missed something, but this is the best shot we have right now."

He paused for a moment. "You and I both know we don't have time to waste. We have to act now. We might already…"

Casey stopped abruptly and got into the front seat of the car.

Sarah followed suit and buckled up. She bowed her head to look over the documents Casey had given her. Her blond hair fell onto her face, obscuring Casey and anyone else's view of it. She struggled not to let the tears fall and felt hollow as the echoing voice in her head finished Casey's sentence.

_We might already be too late._

* * *

_In the interrogation room_

Chuck's howl of pain filled the room, accompanied by a low buzzing sound emanating from the small tool in the torturer's hand. He held it against Chuck's exposed foot, sending short electronic pulses throughout his body.

Jill was silent in the chair, her head filled with Chuck's anguished cries. She had tried to stop the sadistic bastard who was hurting Chuck but it was as if her pleas had fallen on deaf ears.

Paul had not returned to the room in over three hours. She knew that he, and possibly others, were watching from just outside the glass. She had tried to bargain with them, but there was not much she could divulge in exchange for Chuck's release.

The buzzing finally stopped and Chuck's yells subsided to muffled whimpers.

As the man stood up from his crouched position, the door on the far side of the room opened.

"Bravo, Mr. Bartowski. You've managed to stay conscious a lot longer than I expected. It's too bad Jill here hasn't told us anything useful."

"I've told you…"

"Save it, princess."

Paul made his way over to Chuck, whose body was slumped over, his breathing ragged. He flinched and slumped down even further as Paul kicked his injured foot.

"I'm going to give Chuck the opportunity to plead his case, now that he has first hand knowledge of exactly what he's facing if you _don't_ tell us what we want to know."

"My friend and I will even leave the room."

Paul leaned down closer to Chuck, his mouth a whisper away from his ear.

"It's in your best interest to convince her Chuck. I hate to see what would happen to you if this torture continued."

With that last cutting remark, he and the other man left the room.

Chuck was terrified. He had never known that a human being could endure so much pain in such a short period of time.

"Chuck, you have to hold on." He heard Jill's voice as if from a long distance. "Someone will find us. Just try to hang in there."

The words sounded so trite to her ears but she couldn't think of anything to say that would bolster him up.

Several minutes passed, before Jill spoke again.

"Chuck, say something."

"Why?"

"Why what?" Jill asked, confused.

"Why everything, Jill. I don't think that I can take much more of this. I think, well, at least I hope, that if you knew anything you would have already told them. So… this is it - the end of the road. So, I want to know why."

"Chuck, you have to believe that someone is coming for us."

"Jill, I may be a big geek that plays video games all night and have a lousy job fixing computers at a Buy More, but I'm not stupid."

"What are you asking from me, Chuck?"

"I need to know why you left me."

Jill felt like her legs had been cut out from under her.

"Chuck, that has nothing to do with what's going on _now_. You need to save your strength. We can talk about this later."

"No, we can't. There is no later. I'm going to die here. They want answers that you don't have and they're just going to keep doing what they're doing to me, until… I'm gone. So if this is the last moment I get, I want to know why you left me. I lost everything when I got kicked out of school… my future, my best friend and what I thought was the love of my life. Why? Give me something. Please."

Jill was torn. She didn't know what to say to him. His question seemed so easy, but the answer was far from it. The words were caught in her throat and she wanted to tell him something, anything, to ease his mind and give him some small comfort.

Before she could say anything, Paul entered the room again.

"Well, that was very touching. Completely useless and a waste of the negotiating/begging time I gave you Chuck. Be that as it may, time is ticking."

Chuck began to whimper again as he saw his torturer coming back towards him. He braced himself with whatever strength he had left to try and withstand the next round of pain.

As the man selected an instrument, Paul loomed over Jill.

"How long do you think he'll last?" He asked her mockingly.

Jill's breathing got heavier as she tried to ignore both Paul and the sight of Chuck's body twitching in the chair. However, she could not ignore the screams coming out of Chuck's mouth any longer, and her body physically reacted to the sound, clenching and jerking as the pitch grew higher and higher.

Finally, Jill reached a breaking point, and of their own volition, a stream of words left her mouth.

"I haven't been in contact with Bryce for years. Not since he was partnered with another CIA agent."

Paul called to the man to stop.

Near silence engulfed the room.

Paul smiled almost pleasantly at Jill. "What were you saying?"

"I said that I haven't been in contact with Bryce for a long time. It's been maybe four or five years. He was partnered with another agent and they started a relationship. We lost contact of one another soon after that."

"What's her name?"

Jill didn't answer.

"I asked what her name was."

Jill remained silent.

Paul signaled the man to turn on his machine again.

As the sound filled the room, a guttural noise came out of Chuck that sounded like a wounded animal.

Jill winced at the sound.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! I'll tell you what her name is."

"Nooooooo!" Came the yell from Chuck, even as the machine was turned off again.

"Don't say anything Jill. It's not going to help. You'll just put her in jeopardy, too." As he said the words, his throat was raw, not just from the constant yelling, but from the emotions that were swarming inside of him at the thought of Sarah's name coming out of Jill's mouth.

"It doesn't matter, Chuck. They'll find out, anyway. If they can find out that I was once Bryce's partner and where I was assigned, they'll find her, too."

"Listen to Jill, Chuck. She's finally starting to make sense."

Jill took a deep breath and said, "Her name is Eve Collins. They were stationed in Washington together."

"We've already looked into her but she fell off the grid. She's been assigned to a special mission and the details are privy only to the top CIA personnel. Do you know anything about it?"

Jill's eyes closed in defeat upon hearing his words. Paul missed nothing as he took in her expression.

"That's too bad." He said as he shook his head.

* * *

_A/N: I think that this is a slightly awkward place to end this chapter, and I apologize. I'm trying to work out the kinks in the next section, but I wanted to try and post another chapter sooner rather than later. I tried to put some detail into how the agents decided on which locations to look into, but I am not entirely sure I managed it. I kept putting the word "triangulate" everywhere and then decided I wasn't using it correctly so took it out all together! LOL_

_I hope you enjoyed the chapter. As always, reviews, comments and feedback are welcomed and appreciated :-)_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Paul turned his back to Jill and began to say something to the man standing expectantly beside a nearly unconscious Chuck.

Before he could say a few words, a loud commotion could be heard from the floor below. Sirens started to go off in the building, indicating that someone had breached the building's perimeter.

The sound of gun fire followed soon after the sirens started wailing.

"Finish them off," Paul commanded coldly as he hastily turned around and ran to the door to see what he could do about the intruders.

Once Paul had left the room, the old man smiled sickeningly at Chuck and reached for a sharp object on his table.

"It doesn't sound like I have as much time to play with you as I thought that I would. What a pity. I haven't broken your spirit yet, it seems, and it's always so much better to kill someone after they've begged me to end their misery. It makes me feel less guilty." He gave a mirthless laugh.

Chuck, for his part, didn't say anything. He knew he probably didn't have the strength to take any more, but he was adamant that he would at least not beg for death. As Chuck's eyes caught the dull glint of the metal object in the madman's hand, a soft whimper escaped his tightly clenched lips.

Hearing it, Jill called out, "Why not play with a new target? Give Chuck some time to recuperate. Extend your pleasure you sick bastard."

The tormentor ignored Jill as he hummed to himself.

Jill continued to yell taunting jabs at him, cursing and saying whatever she thought would insult him into leaving Chuck alone. From what she could make out, the gun fire had escalated significantly and seemed to be drawing closer to their location.

She knew that she and Chuck still had a chance... if the guy didn't kill Chuck before their liberators got there.

She continued to shout obscenities when finally, something she said triggered a reaction, and he stopped his progress.

"Tut, tut, tut. Such language coming out of your pretty lips. I should do something to shut your little mouth."

He discarded the object in his hand for a pair of pliers with the intention of pulling Jill's teeth out one by one. He was less than two feet away from her, a manic gleam in his eye, when he suddenly became distracted by a burst of gunfire and shouting from the next room.

It was all the opening Jill needed and, using her head, rammed it into his body, causing him to drop the pliers and lose his footing.

Jill used what energy she had left to lift the chair that she has been shackled to the entire time, and managed to slam it into him. As the man fell heavily onto the floor, she used her momentum to deal a crushing blow to his head with her foot, knocking him unconscious.

"Chuck! Chuck! Hold it together. Help is on the way. Can you hear them? They're coming! CHUCK!"

His lack of initial response terrified her as she continued to yell his name.

Finally, Chuck opened his swollen eyes and was able to give a small nod, all that he could manage in the state that he was in.

Jill continued to yell encouraging words to him when out of nowhere, the two-way mirror shattered as a body was thrown through it.

Paul's body was airborne for a brief moment before making a sickening thud as it hit the ground.

Beyond him and the wrecked glass were Sarah and Casey. Casey's gun was drawn and Sarah's stance indicated that she had been the one to throw the Fulcrum agent out of the glass window.

Sarah's eyes scanned the room, honing in on Chuck's still form.

"CHUCK!" she yelled.

Leaping over the window frame, heedless of the glass shards, she raced towards the unmoving figure of Chuck.

Kneeling, her hands shaking, she reached for his face.

"Chuck, Chuck.. Are you there? Please, please…"

The words became her own personal prayer as she checked for a pulse. Finding one, albeit thready and weak, she heaved a shaky sigh of relief and rested her head against his knee for a moment. She reached for her communicator and called for a medical team to come immediately to the second level.

Once that task was completed, she stayed in her position. She didn't think that her legs could hold her yet, such was the magnitude of her relief.

A large presence suddenly appeared beside her. She waited, anticipating one of Casey's customary curt comments.

"What the hell did they do to you, Bartowski?" Casey's voice, ripe with grief and pity, came from above her.

Startled, Sarah looked up into Casey's face and saw that his jaw was clenched, his eyebrows furrowed and concern was clearly reflected in his eyes.

As if noticing Sarah's gaze, he jerked his eyes upward, away from Chuck, and made his way over to Jill.

As he proceeded towards her, he passed the wheeled cart of torture and the incapacitated man on the floor.

He looked at Jill and motioned to the prone figure.

"Is he responsible for Chuck?"

Jill nodded.

Something unidentifiable passed over Casey's face, and a moment later, he raised his gun and put a bullet in the torturer's head.

"He was a threat," he said brusquely.

Without another word, he turned to Jill and set to work to remove her restraints.

Footsteps could be heard coming down the hall and immediately, Casey and Sarah turned in their direction, guns drawn. Seeing that it was the medical team for Chuck and Jill, they lowered their weapons.

"What have we got?" One of them asked as he entered the room.

Jill began to speak, to explain who she and Chuck were when she was interrupted by Sarah, "There's a civilian here that has been badly brutalized. Multiple lacerations, at least one broken finger, signs of electroconvulsive…" Her voice cracked, unable to complete a rundown of Chuck's injuries.

She moved aside to allow the medical team to examine Chuck.

"What's his name?" The paramedic asked.

"Ch…" Jill started.

"Charles Carmichael," Casey replied, cutting Jill off.

Jill's head snapped up and she stared hard at Casey, who avoided her gaze.

"What about her?"

"CIA's missing agent."

Several paramedics approached Jill and she allowed them to put her on one of the stretchers. As they wheeled her away, they passed by Chuck who was being carefully secured to the gurney.

Sarah stood close by, watching the progress, her eyes filled with despair.

In the dim lighting, Jill had not been able to identify Sarah before, but as she neared, she was able to get a closer look at her.

As she was wheeled away, she turned, Sarah's face finally clicking in her exhausted mind.

"Eve?"

* * *

_A/N: I think that I skimped a bit on the rescue mission, but hopefully you can imagine all of the potential gun fighting that ensued, and lots of kicking of Fulcrum butt by Sarah and Casey. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Sarah, busy following Chuck's progress and wishing desperately that she could accompany him rather than stay at the scene, responded to the sound of the voice rather than the name.

She turned to look at the bruised and battered woman on the gurney, barely recognizing her as Bryce's former partner.

"Kaylan. It's good to see you. We'll need a full accounting of what happened shortly, but let the medical team take care of you for now. Director Graham will debrief you once your injuries have been seen to."

"Eve, what's going on? Why are they looking for Bryce? I thought that he was dead."

"As I said, Director Graham will debrief…" Sarah's voice trailed off as Jill's words registered.

"They're looking for Bryce?" She finally managed to ask Jill.

"Yes, they took me hoping to find him."

"Then why… Why did they take…?" At a loss for words, Sarah gestured in the direction that Chuck had been wheeled away in.

"Chuck? They must have found something to connect him to me or Bryce."

Casey's heavy footfalls could be heard approaching as he caught Jill's last statement.

"How do you know Bartowski?" He asked in a quiet rumble.

She hesitated for a moment, not sure how to answer. If she told them the truth, she would be breaking her cover by revealing information about her past. However, the look of absolute concern on both Casey and Sarah's faces swayed her to go against protocol.

"Chuck knew me when we were at Stanford. He and I were… close before. He was also Bryce's roommate."

"You're Jill." The soft statement came from Sarah.

Blinking, Jill nodded, surprised that Sarah knew her former alias.

Understanding, Casey nodded.

"This complicates matters considerable."

Confused, Jill started to speak, wanting more information.

Before she could ask any questions, Sarah signaled the medical team standing by to take Jill away. "You need to get treated. Director Graham will debrief you shortly."

As she started to get wheeled away, Jill reached out and grabbed Sarah's arm. "Eve… what's going on?"

"My name is Sarah." Sarah replied, revealing her current alias. She placed her hand gently over Jill's. "We're not at liberty to discuss anything further. Direction Graham will speak with you. Let them take care of you for now."

As the paramedics began to wheel her away, Jill's hand slipped from Sarah's. She turned in the stretcher, continuing to watch Sarah as she exited the room. Sarah, for her part, watched her leave, giving a small, tight smile.

After Jill was transported out of sight, Sarah turned back to the small space and at the chair Chuck had been shackled to. She could clearly see the splatter of dried blood and the used instruments on the cart.

She took a deep, unsteady breath.

"They weren't even looking for Chuck. They didn't even know who he was. They didn't need to do this…" her voice trailed off as she struggled to draw air and not fall down to her knees in despair and helpless anger.

Casey came up behind her.

"Think of it this way: if they had known what he was, it would have been much, much worse. We would have lost him forever."

Sarah nodded, too numb to speak.

"Pull yourself together, CIA."

Sarah gave an imperceptible nod. "We need to contact Ellie."

"First we need a good cover story. Breathe Walker. You're no good to Chuck if you fall apart."

Casey put his hand on Sarah's shoulder in a rare attempt to comfort.

"Chuck's tougher than he looks. He would have to be because he looks like a strong wind could knock him over."

Casey paused for a moment before continuing. "To get through this… to survive this, he'll need you. That means that you have to get through this, too."

He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and then left to direct the other agents in securing and transporting the captured Fulcrum agents and gathering all of their equipment.

Sarah stayed still a moment longer, staring at Chuck's discarded shoe and rolled up sock placed next to the electronic stun gun. She could only imagine what horrors he had faced in this room.

Steeling herself, she turned to do what she had to do. Casey was right. She needed to pull herself together and get the job done. The faster she finished here, the sooner she could be by Chuck's side.

* * *

_Chuck - In the ambulance_

Chuck's entire body screamed in agony. As the vehicle he was in raced through the streets, siren wailing, he tried to think passed the pain.

He was alive. He couldn't believe it.

He had been hanging onto consciousness by a thread when Jill had finally gotten his torturer to leave him alone. He dimly recalled Jill knocking out the madman and then Paul's body landing roughly on the floor close to him. The rest was a bit hazy.

He did remember the flooding feeling of relief when he saw Sarah running towards him. The feel of her hands tenderly cradling his head was his last clear memory and he savored it. It meant that he was saved.

At least for now.

He didn't know where they were taking him. The part of his brain that was still capable of cognizant thought raced with fear as it conjured images of a private bunker that he would be forced to live in for the rest of his life. He wondered briefly if it would be worse then dying from the torture. Even as that thought settled in his mind, he knew he was not in any state to fight them if they were indeed taking him away.

He hurt. Every part of his body throbbed. He could feel, rather than see the medical team moving around, checking his vitals. For the second time in as many days, he felt a pinprick on his arm and his world took on a fluffy, dreamlike quality. He sighed as the drugs entered his blood stream and the scorching pain became more of a dull ache. He heard the whir of the sirens as if from a distance.

He struggled to open his eyes one last time before oblivion took him completely. He squinted, hoping to see the familiar golden hair, but as his eyes gazed slowly around the cramped quarters of the ambulance, he didn't find it.

A little sad, he shut his eyes again and let the sleep of the exhausted take him under.

* * *

_Back at the Fulcrum location_

Sarah and Casey were still in the room, finishing the clean up. As Sarah sifted through a pile of papers in the observation room, her communicator beeped. As she answered it, she motioned for Casey to join her.

On the small screen were Director Graham and General Beckman asking for an update on their progress.

"We found both Kaylan and Chuck. They're alive and have been sent to get their injuries treated."

The two supervisors nodded, having already received this information. "Has the Intersect been compromised?"

"No," said Sarah and explained what had happened. "They were looking for Bryce. Chuck was just an innocent bystander. They found him through his connection with Kaylan."

Director Graham nodded again. "We're having the Intersect transported to one of our secure holding facilities. He'll be kept there for a short period of time and receive treatment for his injuries. Make sure that no connection has been made to the Intersect."

Sarah nodded and made note of the location where they were taking Chuck.

"What are we going to tell his sister? His friends?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We will send them messages letting them know that you and he have gone on an extended trip together." General Beckman said.

"They won't believe that. Chuck would never leave without at least telling his sister."

"People will believe what they want to believe, Agent Walker. Your priority is to ensure that the Intersect is still intact and that this incident didn't do permanent damage to it."

Every time they said Intersect instead of Chuck, Sarah found herself getting angrier and angrier. Casey, recognizing the signs of Sarah's formidable temper, took hold of the communicator and relayed that they understood.

He disconnected and handed the device back to Sarah.

She angrily snatched it back from him and said, "You should have let me say something! Chuck is a _person_ and they need to remember that."

Casey looked at her and said firmly, "He's not a person to them. It doesn't matter."

"What are you talking about? Of course it should matter."

"I meant that it doesn't matter what _they_ think to Chuck." Realizing that Sarah's focus was not here, he told her, "Go to him. I'll meet you at the location later."

"I need to finish…"

"You need to be with Chuck. He needs you to be with him."

She was about to protest but deep down, she knew that he was right. Instead she wordlessly turned and raced out the door.

* * *

_Sarah - At the secure holding facility_

Once Sarah had arrived and got through security, she entered the area where she was told that Chuck was being held. She approached the doctors standing by and was given a breakdown of the extent of his injuries.

Every word was like a knife to her heart and by the time the rundown of the trauma was completed, she had lost the ability to speak and could only mutely nod.

"He's heavily sedated, but you can sit with him if you want," one of the doctors said, motioning to the room behind him.

"Thank you," she managed to whisper before approaching the door of Chuck's room.

She stopped and stood outside, staring through the window for a while, giving herself a moment before going inside. She could see, with the sunlight streaming down, his injuries more clearly then when they were in the interrogation room and her heart wrenched at the sight.

She watched as his chest rose and fell as he slept on, and for a while, was completely transfixed, grateful that he was still alive, but terrified of what had been done to him.

She finally worked up the courage to open the door. She walked over to him and looked down.

She couldn't stop her hand from reaching out to brush at his hair. Her fingers traced the shape of his face, down his arm, careful not to touch the bruises and bandages, and finally rested on his hand. She held it gently in her own and continued to stare at his face. She wanted so badly for his eyes to open, to stare back at her with those wide brown eyes of his, that were always full of a light that was uniquely Chuck's.

Suddenly, as if her weight were too much to bear for her legs, they gave out from under her. She fell to her knees and, instead of trying to get up, she rested her head on the side of the bed, her hand still lightly clasping his. She barely managed to choke back a sob as she thought of that light being extinguished.

Even though they had saved him from death, she didn't know if they were able to save him from something worse. He wasn't trained to withstand the things that had been done to him. What he had to endure in that dark room would haunt him for the rest of his life.

He might never be the same.

Sitting there beside Chuck, she found that there was no room for anger inside of her, at the injustice of what was done to him, at the way he was being treating by her superiors. She was just filled with a numbing dread at the idea of a world without the Chuck that she knew and that she had grown to care for.

As images of an unsmiling, emotionally devastated Chuck filled her head, she started to cry in earnest.

Chuck was everything that she could no longer be – open to everyone, capable of showing his feelings, was unafraid and unashamed to give and receive love. The idea of that Chuck disappearing inside a deep, internal pit of darkness made her ache.

She tried to rein in her emotions, reminding herself that Chuck was alive. His secret was safe.

Even as these thoughts swirled in her head, she remained where she was, holding on to Chuck's hand like a lifeline. She could only stay with him and wait. And hope.

* * *

_A/N: Very, very sorry for the delay in updating. I blame the Fiscal Year end madness at work (and people taking March break off leaving the rest of us to take up the slack! ACK!)._

_As requested, I tried to make this chapter a bit longer. There are only a few more chapters to go, and thankfully I have a fairly detailed outline to go by so I should be able to update quickly. I had troubling making the transition from torture scene, the big rescue and now the aftermath; hopefully I'm not rushing things. Thanks for sticking with the story and I hope that this chapter didn't disappoint. _


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Chuck hovered in and out of consciousness. The doctors had done what they could, and it was now up to his body to heal itself.

For Chuck, each time that he awoke, he looked for that familiar shiny blond hair, just as he had in the ambulance. This time, he was never disappointed.

Sarah stayed by his bedside the whole time. She was there whenever his eyelashes fluttered open to give him a reassuring smile, and to brush her hand over his, giving him that much needed contact.

Casey had been in and out a few times to visit their charge, but he hadn't stayed for more than a handful of minutes each time. Sarah thought it was because he was still maintaining his cover at the BuyMore, while still dealing with the Fulcrum agents and the investigation.

The real reason was that Casey was unable to look at Chuck in his current state. Contrary to his rough demeanor, he had grown begrudgingly… tolerant… of Chuck. He would never say fond. _Never_.

Their report had been given to General Beckman and Director Graham a few days after Chuck's rescue.

Casey had been able to establish that Paul had found out about Chuck's existence only with respect to his previous relationship with Jill. They knew that he and Bryce had been roommates, but no further connection had been made. Chuck's secret, and Chuck himself, were safe.

It was decided that Chuck would not, for the time being at least, have to "disappear".

Sarah sighed audibly with relief once that decision had been made.

* * *

Several days had passed and Chuck had not yet regained full consciousness, something that worried Sarah. She was told that it was normal and that she just had to be patient.

Later that night, Chuck was gripped by a nightmare. In his mind, he was back in the interrogation room, and was being tortured all over again. As the images played in his head, he began to moan quietly in his sleep.

Sarah was beside him in a moment, one hand on his shoulder, the other lightly squeezing his hand.

"Are you in pain, Chuck? Do you want me to contact the doctor to up your meds?" Her hand reached for the call button even before the words were out of her mouth, but Chuck's shaking head stopped her.

"Make it stop," he gasped.

"Make what stop?"

"The… the… bad stuff."

Chuck's voice, although filled with pain and fear, was almost childlike.

Sarah began to rub his shoulder, maybe small shushing noises.

"It's over, Chuck. You're safe. I promise. Everything is going to be okay." She reassured him.

"I'm scared." Chuck whimpered.

"Don't be afraid, Chuck. He's gone. Casey killed him. He can't hurt you anymore. Wake up, Chuck. You're only dreaming."

Sarah continued her litany of soothing words until Chuck was finally released from the grips of his nightmare.

Gasping for air, he surfaced into full consciousness.

He sat up, wincing as the abused muscles around his chest spasmed at the sudden movement. He began to rock slowly, whether to ease the physical or emotional distress, Sarah wasn't sure.

As Sarah rubbed his back, Chuck continued to moan. When he finally expelled the last dregs of the nightmare, he looked at Sarah with haunted eyes.

"It was so dark and all I could hear was my own screams."

Sarah bowed her head, obscuring her face from his view as she fought not to cry, while continuing to comfort him.

"You're safe, Chuck."

"But am I only safe for now? Will the CIA take me and put me in the room that Longshore told me about? I didn't tell them anything, I swear! They never even asked! Please tell them. Don't let them extract me, Sarah. I don't want to be put in a dark room, anymore."

"They already know, Chuck. They've already decided that you can go home. I promise."

Chuck's pleading eyes were almost her undoing, as they continued to stare at her, searchingly.

"Where's Ellie? And Morgan? Are they here?"

"I'm sorry, Chuck. It was decided that they shouldn't know about what happened to you. It would be too complicated and, if Ellie saw you in the state that you're in, she would know immediately something very serious happened."

Chuck closed his eyes. "So, I don't get to see them?"

"Just for now. We want to make sure that you get better and then you can go home and see them."

She paused, hating herself for what she was about to say. "You wouldn't want them to see you like this, would you?"

Chuck's eyes opened, the drugs still making them a little bleary, but she recognized the worry in them. "No, you're right. They shouldn't see me like this. I mean, I don't even want to see me like this, so…"

Chuck started to lie down again, but then bolted up, the monitor beside his bed giving a piercing beep as his heart rate spiked.

"Jill… Jill was there and they wanted information. Is she alright? Did you get her out, too? I don't really remember."

As a number of medical staff ran into the room in response to the change in his vitals, Sarah eased Chuck back.

"She's fine. She's here, too, but in another area. She's recuperating."

"I want to see her."

Sarah knew that he would ask that. It was inevitable and expected.

"I'll have to clear it with Director Graham. Let them take care of you, Chuck."

"Call him now. Please. It's important."

As the medical staff swarmed his bed, Sarah was pushed aside.

Chuck looked at her beseechingly as she was ushered out of the room.

She gave a nod, and Chuck seemed to relax a bit.

As she exited the room, she was worried that she wouldn't be able to convince the director to let Chuck see Jill.

She, herself, had been unable to gain entry to her room. She had attempted to visit Jill on a number of occasions, but was always turned away.

Director Graham answered her phone call with a simple "Yes."

"It's Sarah. Chuck is awake."

"That's good. Does he remember anything?"

"He confirms what Casey had already discovered and what Kaylan relayed. They were only looking for information from _her_. They didn't ask him anything."

A brief pause followed her statement. "Is there anything else, Agent Walker?"

"He wants to see Kaylan."

"That is not advisable at this time."

"It's important to him, sir."

"As I said, Agent Walker, it is not advisable at this time."

"He wants to see her; I don't think it's too much to ask."

"Agent Walker…"

"I think it's essential to his recovery that he has contact with her."

"Why?"

"As I said in my report earlier, he is not trained to deal with the situation that he was placed in. He regained consciousness while waking up from a nightmare. One of the first things he asked about was his family."

"You agreed that it would be best if they didn't see him."

"Yes, I did. Partly because it would devastate them and also because any story that we came up with to explain his state would be quickly rejected by his sister. This is different. Kaylan already knows what happened. She's his link to what happened in that room and may be able to answer questions that we can't. Maybe it will help him to accept and, possibly expedite him overcoming what happened."

Her pop psychology tactic was shaky at best, but there was enough truth to what she was saying that she hoped it would sway his decision.

"I'll have to think about it. If we decide to allow it, we'll make arrangements when Chuck is more stable."

With those last words, the connection was cut off.

As Sarah turned off her phone, she hoped that what she had said was enough to get Chuck what he wanted.

* * *

As the days went by, Chuck's agitation increased. He was quick to react to any sudden movements and was weary of the doctors and the drugs. He refused to speak about what had happened and asked about Jill frequently.

When the call came in from Director Graham that arrangements had been made for Jill to come to Chuck's room in two days time, Sarah was filled with a mixture of relief and trepidation.

Although she knew that it was important for Chuck to see her, and talk to her (perhaps not for the reasons she listed to the director) she dreaded what Jill might say to him.

The answers she had to give may not be the ones that he wanted to hear. She worried that his already fragile psyche would not be able to handle them. At the same time, she realized that in the long run, if Chuck hoped to fully recover from this ordeal, he needed closure – one way or the other.

When the time finally arrived, Jill entered the room hesitantly. Her eyes were drawn to Chuck's figure, sitting up in the hospital bed. His bruises were stark against the white sheets.

She was slightly overwhelmed by the sight of him.

She had not seen him very clearly in the dimly lit room, so this was really the first time that she was getting a good look at him since Stanford. She noted the bruising, the bandages and the subtle changes in his appearance. Overall, he looked like the same Chuck, until she looked at his eyes. The Chuck that she had known had never had such a haunted expression in his eyes.

Chuck nervously plucked at the string from his hospital gown, shooting furtive glances in Jill's direction. He did not know what to say to start the conversation.

To fill the awkward silence, Sarah stepped forward and greeted Jill.

"Hi, Kaylan. It's good to see you up and about."

Instead of easing the tension in Chuck, Sarah's words had his spine stiffening.

"Who's Kaylan?"

Sarah's head turned quickly to face Chuck, wincing at her mistake.

"That's, the um…" Sarah started to speak.

"It's one my aliases."

Chuck couldn't quite meet her eyes, instead opting to look down at his hands. He was surprised that they were shaking slightly.

"Sarah, is it okay if you leave us alone?" Chuck asked.

Sarah opened her mouth again, as if to speak, but as she looked back and forth between the two other people in the room, she stopped herself. Nodding, she made her way to the door.

As she turned the knob she said, without turning around, "If you need anything, I'll be right outside."

Not expecting a response, Sarah exited the room.

"Chuck…" Jill began.

"So, your name is Kaylan?"

Sighing, Jill approached Chuck's bed slowly.

"No."

"Is it Jill?"

"No."

"What is it?"

"You know that I can't tell you, Chuck."

"What is it about the women in my life that they can't even tell me something as simple as their name? What about your middle name? Can you tell me that?"

Jill shook her head.

"Chuck, I know you've been through a horrific experience that is beyond words. People are worried about you."

"I don't want to talk about it."

Chuck stared hard at the wall across from him.

"Do you remember the question that I asked you before… in the… in the room?" Chuck swallowed as even the mention of that location caused a lump to lodge itself in his throat.

Jill had know that this question would come up... ever since Director Graham had told her that she would be meeting Chuck again, she had tried to prepare a suitable answer.

But there was really none to give.

"Chuck, things happen sometimes."

"Things don't just happen, Jill." Chuck's voice cracked a little as he said her name.

"Was I part of some mission? Were you supposed to recruit me or something?"

Jill swallowed hard, before answering truthfully, "No."

"Then was it…"

"I was recruiting other students, gauging their aptitude. I worked conjointly with Professor Fleming."

As Chuck absorbed her words, he felt his already heavy heart drop, fraction by fraction.

"So you helped recruit Bryce."

"Yes."

Chuck's eyes filled with tears and he tried to hastily wipe them away.

Finally he turned to stare at her, this woman that he had loved with everything that he had. Staring at her fully for the first time in a long time, his heart gave a shuddering sort of thump.

He took in her dark hair and bright blue eyes, the little freckles that were sprinkled across her nose that he had spent hours trying to count while he watched her sleep. She had not changed very much since he has last seen her, but at the same time, knowing what he knew now, everything about her had changed.

"Was any of it real?"

"Chuck?"

"What we had. You and me. Was it real?"

Jill stared at Chuck, seeing how he physically held his breath waiting for her answer. She saw, too, the way that he seemed to brace himself, as if her words had the ability to strike a blow.

Finally, she answered, "It was real to you. That's all that matters."

Chuck's breath came out in a ragged wheeze, and his entire body slumped down as if the weight of the world had plunked itself onto his shoulders.

"Chuck…"

"Forget it. Just stop. I don't…"

"I'm sorry."

Chuck managed to snort at her weak apology.

"Just leave. Please."

"Chuck, I'm…"

"I SAID LEAVE!" Chuck yelled, his voice straining. "Get out! Get out! Get out!"

Jill wanted to apologize again but she saw that Chuck's face was crumpled as he fought not to cry. She saw that his hands were fisted in the sheets, his eyes shut tightly; he was going to lose whatever control he had over his emotions.

Knowing the damage was already done, and she could do nothing to help, she turned and left the room.

She walked quickly passed Sarah, who immediately pushed off the wall that she had been leaning against.

She was about to ask Jill what happened when a loud clanging noise could be heard from Chuck's room.

Sarah stared through the glass and saw that Chuck had thrown his lunch tray onto the floor and had his face buried in his hands. Seeing Chuck's devastated form she turned to find that Jill was rapidly retreating.

Torn between going to Chuck or following Jill, she hesitated a beat before chasing after the other agent.

* * *

_A/N: Phew… that chapter was difficult to write as well! There's so much angst in the last few chapters of this story. I never expected it! I hope that I'm staying true to all of the characters and was able to depict Chuck's distress without too many clichés. Up next – Sarah finally confronts Jill. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. As always, reviews and comments are always appreciated._


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Kaylan! Kaylan, wait!" Sarah called out, as she ran towards the retreating figure.

Instead of slowing down or stopping, Jill picked up her pace. Seeing this, Sarah took off at a full-out run, her long legs allowing her to catch up quickly.

She grabbed Jill's arm and swung her around to face her.

"What did you say to him?"

Noticing that a few people were staring in their direction, in response to her outburst, she grasped Jill's arm roughly. She ignored Jill's hiss as she inadvertently pressed down on one of her bruises, and pushed her into one of the unoccupied rooms.

"What did you say to him?"

"It's none of your business, Eve."

"Chuck _is _my business. If whatever you said hinders him on his road to recovery, you'll have a lot to answer for."

"I did what I had to do."

"What. Did. You. Say. To. Him?" She asked threateningly, enunciating every word carefully.

Although the scare tactic had little effect on her, she answered truthfully. "He asked me if our relationship had been real."

"And?"

"Does it matters?"

"Of course it matters! Whatever you said to him caused him to break down!"

"I told him that the relationship had been real to him, and that was what was important. What did you expect me to say?"

Sarah closed her eyes briefly after hearing Jill's answer.

"You should have lied. It's what we're trained to do. He doesn't need to hear that – not after everything that he's been through."

"What purpose would that have served?"

"It would have made him feel better! He was captured and tortured because of something that connected him to _you_!"

"I couldn't have prevented that. I had no way of knowing."

"Well, you could have prevented what you just did to him! You basically told him that his whole life with you had been fake! He loved you. Part of him probably still loved you… and you threw that in his face!"

Sarah stopped yelling and turned away as her words filtered through her anger. She realized that, ironically, she could be yelling all of these words to herself and most of them would have applied.

"Why did you do it?" Sarah finally asked, her voice both calmer and softer.

"I had my orders."

Sarah really looked at Jill's face for the first time since chasing after her from Chuck's room. From the expression on it, it dawned on her that Jill might not be as detached from all of this as she had first assumed.

"What orders?"

"My orders from Director Graham."

"What did he tell you to say?"

"The bare minimum. He said to be as honest as possible about my time at Stanford – at least in relation to my recruiting efforts for the agency."

"Recruiting efforts?"

"I was part of a collaborative team aimed at assessing potential candidates into the CIA recruitment program. I worked under Dr. Fleming."

Sarah's brows furrowed at this new information.

"What about Chuck?"

"Director Graham told me to let him down easy."

Sarah laughed humorlessly at this. "Easy… right. There's nothing easy about any of this."

"No, there really isn't."

The two women shared a look. After a long pause, Jill broke the silence.

"The director said that it was for his own good."

"It seems that we say that a lot when we deal with Chuck," Sarah murmured.

Jill nodded absently, not sure what else to say.

"So, was it real?"

Jill did not have to ask what Sarah meant. As Sarah looked into Jill's eyes, she saw the moment that the façade dropped. Her eyes became bleak and an expression of long suppressed longing entered them.

"It doesn't matter. It _can't_ matter." Jill sighed heavily. "This is the life I chose. There isn't _room_ for anything real."

"What about him? Don't you think he deserves the truth?"

"If there's anyone in the world that I can think of that deserves to know the truth, it's Chuck. He was always the most open and…" Jill's voice stumbled.

Sarah nodded slowly.

"But it's my orders. It's procedure."

"Don't you ever just get tired of it?" The words were out of Sarah's mouth before she could stop them.

"Some days. Like today. Other times… other times I don't even think about it. This is what I'm trained to do: Follow orders. Do what has to be done."

Sarah looked out onto the streets below, seeing the highway from their vantage point. She watched as the cars streamed by and wondered what it would be like to have a normal life.

The silence stretched as each woman was caught up in their own thoughts of 'maybes' and 'what ifs'.

"Chuck will get over this. He has something at his core that will see him through. It's just part of his nature… it's hard to describe." Jill said a little helplessly.

Sarah smiled sadly, knowing exactly what she meant.

"I have to go. Tell Chuck…" her voice trailed off, at a loss of how to finish the sentence. "Just tell him that I'm sorry."

Jill began to walk away. Before she reached the door, Sarah called out, unable to stop herself.

"How did you do it?"

This time, Jill paused, unsure of what Sarah was referring to.

"Do what?"

"Walk away from him. That first time."

Jill swallowed audibly, and for a brief moment, her eyes filled with regret. But then it was gone.

"My assignment was over. It was time to move on."

Sarah remained silent and Jill turned again to leave. As she opened the door, she turned around one last time.

"It was the hardest thing I ever had to do."

"Then why are you doing it again?"

"The same reasons. I don't have a choice."

Sarah watched Jill walk out the door with her shoulders slumped. She followed soon afterward.

Each woman walked the long hallway, in opposite directions. One walked away from the man that had held her heart and the other, towards that same man, the one that she could never give her heart to. They both knew that they were lying. Lying to Chuck. Lying to themselves.

They had never hated themselves more for following procedure than they did at that moment.

* * *

_A/N: Finally... the confrontation between Sarah and Jill! I know that the chapter is a bit shorter then the last two, but this seemed like a good place to end it. Hopefully I was able to capture their conflicting emotions without being too over the top._

_I hope the confrontation met expectations and you enjoyed this chapter. __As always, comments and reviews are welcomed and appreciated!_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Sarah stopped outside of Chuck's door. She saw that he was now curled onto his side in the bed, his head sort of buried in his pillow. She was unsure of what to say to him but knew that she couldn't leave him alone in his misery. It was her, after all, that had set up the meeting between Jill and he – even if it was at his urging.

Bracing herself, she opened the door and made her way inside.

"Leave me alone," came Chuck's muffled request.

"Chuck," she began.

"Just leave me alone, please. I don't want to talk about it."

"Listen, I know what she told you and…" she faltered, as she considered what to say to him. She knew that she couldn't tell him what Jill had revealed, but at the same time, she wanted to give him something, _anything_, that would provide a little comfort.

Chuck lifted his head and turned, looking at her with sad, red-rimmed eyes.

"I don't get it. Why me? How is it that I get involved or, as it turns out, _fake-involved_ with women? Is there something wrong with me?"

Sarah walked quickly to his side and squatted down a little so that they were eye-to-eye.

"No, Chuck. It's not you."

"Could have fooled me," he said dully.

"Sometimes… sometimes people just aren't capable of giving love."

Chuck's face scrunched up in confusion. "That doesn't make sense. Everybody's capable of giving love."

"There are circumstances where it's just not possible." Sarah said as she took hold of his hand. "Believe me, it's not you. You shouldn't blame yourself. If there was a lack in anyone, it was in her."

Chuck held tightly onto Sarah's hand, willing what she said to be true. He still hadn't reconciled himself to the fact that everything that he had shared with Jill had all been fake.

The more he thought about it, the harder he found it to breathe. Squeezing his eyes closed, he released Sarah's hand.

"Chuck."

"I'd just like to be alone for a while."

She didn't want to leave him, but the quiet, pleading way that he had uttered those words made her change her mind.

He needed time. How much time he needed, she wasn't sure.

She slowly stood back up and, giving in to the impulse, brushed her hand through his hair. "I'll be outside if you need me."

He didn't acknowledge her, but she hadn't expected him to. She left the room and instead of sitting in one of the chairs down the hallway, she placed her back against the wall, slid down to the floor and buried her face in her knees.

Once again she found herself powerless to do anything for Chuck, but sit and wait… and hope.

* * *

A few weeks passed and Chuck was getting much better physically, but emotionally he had not improved at all. He refused to talk to anyone, about what happened in that dark interrogation room, or with Jill.

He wouldn't even talk to Sarah.

Finally, a week before Chuck was scheduled to be released Casey came to visit him. Casey had been finishing up searching the Fulcrum location and tying up all of the loose ends. He was fairly confident that he and the team had found everything that there was to find.

Casey entered Chuck's room to find Sarah sitting rather forlornly in a chair on the far wall and Chuck sleeping in his bed. Looking at Chuck, Casey saw that although the bruises had faded and the bandages had been removed, Chuck still suffered. He could see it in the way that he restlessly moved in his sleep, and would, every so often, let out a quiet moan or whimper.

Seeing this strengthened his resolve to do something that he thought that he would never, ever do. Ignore protocol and break procedure.

He approached Sarah and signaled to her that he had something to say. It had been weighing heavily on his conscience ever since he had discovered it.

"I know how Fulcrum found Chuck."

"What?" Sarah asked.

From his pocket, he removed a single sheet of wrinkled paper and handed it to the other agent.

Curious, she opened it.

She recognized Chuck's writing instantly, and as she read the words in the letter, her throat closed up a little bit.

"I found it, along with an old textbook at the Fulcrum location. The book has a Stanford stamp on it."

She read through the letter again and said nothing for a long time. Finally, she whispered, "She kept it".

Casey was about to ask her what she thought that they should do with the information, when Chuck's voice cut through the room.

"Who kept what?"

Sarah and Casey stared at each other a moment after Chuck had asked the question. She waited, her eyes silently asking permission. When Casey nodded slowly, she made a decision, one that went against all of her training.

After her conversation with Jill, and knowing Chuck, she knew that he should see what was in her hand. She had struggled with telling him of the things that had come up in her confrontation with Jill, as she knew, deep down, that it wasn't right to have him think that everything that was, hadn't been real. She finally had something tangible to give him.

"Jill," she said in answer to his inquiry.

She approached Chuck's bedside and saw that his face had become pinched upon hearing Jill's name.

She put her hand on his shoulder.

At her touch, his eyes opened and she could see the hurt that still lingered there. Knowing that this was the right decision, she handed him the piece of paper.

Momentarily confused, Chuck stared at it blankly. Finally, he unfolded the paper and began to read. He recognized it immediately and he found that the pain that had been gnawing and twisting at him began to ease.

"I thought I threw this away."

Casey, in the background, gave a dry laugh. "You remember when you wrote it?"

"You always remember when you tell someone that you love them for the first time. Even if it's in a letter that you never thought they'd see."

As the words left his mouth, his heart gave a squeeze as the full realization swept through him.

She had found it. More to the point, she had kept it after all of these years. She had lied to him that day in this room. It _had_ meant something to her… _he_ had meant something to her.

Chuck held it to his face, his vision slightly blurry as he traced his own handwriting on the paper, almost longingly.

Sarah stared at Chuck as her eyes started to film over. Her heart gave a small squeeze of its own as she saw the faint flicker of light that came into his eyes, a light that had been missing for a long time.

It's still there, she thought.

As Chuck held the paper to his face, she noticed the writing on the back.

"What does it say here?"

Chuck flipped the paper over to see the random zeros and ones written on it in Jill's handwriting.

Recognizing it for what it was, he started to laugh, relief and something more filling him. His laughter turned into tears, but not the kind that made him ache, but the kind that soothed the ache that was there.

Casey looked at him like he was crazy, but Sarah leaned in further to take another look.

"It's not gibberish, is it?"

"No." Chuck shook his head, his hair falling into his eyes. Sarah fought the urge to push it aside.

"It's binary code." He swallowed hard. "It says 'I love you too'".

* * *

_A/N: I had to end Chuck's suffering… I put him through the ringer in this story and I think he deserves a little bit of closure/happiness. I hope it wasn't too cheesy. I also wanted to tie in the letter that was discovered in the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. As always, reviews and feedback are welcomed and appreciated!_


	12. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Chuck sat in the sand, staring out over the ocean as the soft breeze ruffled his already unruly hair. The sun glared off of the water, but he didn't put on the sunglasses in his pocket, instead relishing the warmth and brightness against his face.

He never wanted to be in the darkness again.

Sarah sat quietly beside him, companionably staring out at the water, too. He smiled slightly, thinking that this scene seemed very reminiscent of that morning almost a year ago when his life had changed forever.

That day, when the sun was just cresting over the water, a new day about to begin, she had asked him to trust her. And he had. He knew, regardless of everything that had happened since that day, it was the best decision he could have made.

He shifted his hand slightly in the sand, causing it to brush against Sarah's. She neither flinched nor moved away, instead turning her head to smile at him.

"This is nice," He said.

She nodded, "Yes, it is."

"We have to go back, don't we?"

"Our flight leaves in a little while. Casey's waiting for us at the hotel. He's been packed since Thursday."

He gave a small chuckle. It was, after all, Tuesday.

"It was nice of the CIA to give us this free vacation," he commented without rancor.

"It helps with our cover and…" she hesitated briefly before continuing "… you needed more time."

He nodded.

"Are you ready to go back?" She asked

"Yeah. I miss my sister and Awesome. Morgan. The rest of the nerd herders. It will be good to see them."

Sarah silently agreed.

She watched as Chuck closed his eyes, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. She marveled at how peaceful he looked.

After they had released Chuck with a clean bill of health, Sarah had persuaded Director Graham and General Beckman to send the team away for another couple of weeks to give Chuck more time to heal. Away from the doctors and the confines of the facility.

The time in the sun had been just what Chuck needed.

He had risen every morning, just before the sun rose, and had walked the shoreline to meet the sun as it broke over the horizon.

She never joined him, not wanting to intrude, instead, she opted to follow at a discrete distance. She was, after all, still watching over him.

After Sarah and Casey had shown him Jill's letter, he had started to open up, bit by bit. The government had assigned a therapist to talk to him, to try to deal with everything that had happened. Although it seemed to have helped, Sarah thought that those early morning walks had helped even more.

She recognized that they were Chuck's own personal therapy sessions. She thought that his early morning ritual was a reminder to him that he was alive, that he had survived to face another day.

And they were working. He no longer needed constant reassurances that he was safe. His nightmares came much less frequently and he had stopped whimpering in the dark while he slept.

Sarah was pleased that he had begun to smile more frequently, and more often than not, the smile reached his eyes.

She believed that going back home would help rid him of the last vestiges of what had happened. He was ready to see his family and friends; she knew that he hadn't been before.

They were silent several more minutes until Chuck finally opened his eyes again. He looked down at the woman sitting beside him and found her staring intently at him. He wondered briefly how long she had been watching him.

He smiled down at her sun-kissed face.

Over the last couple of weeks, as Sarah had noticed the changes in Chuck, he had noticed the subtle changes in her. She no longer hovered around him, her entire body poised to jump every time he moved. The shadows under eyes and tightness in her mouth had finally disappeared. She had started to laugh again. The first time that he had heard it, after being absent for so long, had lifted his spirits.

They were almost normal again. Well, as normal as a spy and a guy with a computer filled with government secrets in his head could be.

He got up and reached out a hand to her. She took it without hesitation and kept hold of it as they began to walk down the beach towards their hotel.

"So, when we get back, do I still have my job at the BuyMore? I mean, I've been gone almost two whole months. Somehow, I don't think Big Mike is going to take my long, unexplained disappearance in stride."

"We have people at the BuyMore corporate office that cleared it. Technically, you were only on vacation for a few weeks. The rest of the time you were at a Corporate Orientation and Training Seminar. Congratulations, you've been promoted."

He looked down at her, amused. "I have?"

"Well, with Tang selling pineapples in Hawaii, your store is down one Assistant Manager."

"Huh. Well, this is an interesting and pleasant development."

Sarah smiled. "I thought you would like that."

They continued to walk along the shoreline, still holding hands.

"A lot has happened to you. Are you going to be okay?" Sarah asked. It was the first time she had asked him that, or some variant of the question, since his meeting with Jill.

Chuck stopped walking and turned to face her.

"Honestly?"

Sarah raised her eyebrow at him, a half-smile on her face.

"After what happened, when I was getting hurt and I thought that I wouldn't make it out of that room alive… I didn't think I would ever get passed it. The pain. The anger. Mostly, the fear."

Chuck paused for a moment, and Sarah waited patiently, not wanting to interrupt.

"But I… I think I'm going to be okay. I mean – I'm alive. When all is said and done, I'm still here. How awesome is that?"

"And best of all, I know the truth about what happened all those years ago. A few months ago I found out that my best friend never really betrayed me, and now I know that the girl that I was in love with really did love me back. I mean, the only way it could be more perfect is if Stanford reinstated me and actually give me my degree!"

Sarah smiled. "I wouldn't hold my breath on that last one."

"Yeah, I didn't think so. But the other stuff, that's enough for me. More than enough, really."

As they continued to stand there, the waves washed onto the shore, splashing their feet. Instead of stepping away from the lapping waves, Chuck turned to Sarah, a wide grin spread across his face.

"How much time do we have before our flight?"

"A couple of hours, I think," Sarah said, as she glanced at her watch.

"Is that waterproof?" He asked, nodding at her wrist.

"Yes, we learned our lesson after you ruined your watch after dumping it in a glass of water to protect Lou and her illegally imported salami."

"Good," he said, a mischievous look on his face.

Before she could even blink, he lifted her up into his arms and started running into the water. She could have easily subdued him, of course, but instead, she threw her head back and laughed.

His laughter soon joined hers as he splashed into the ocean, the salty water soaking their clothes.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

"Ready for what?" Although she already knew the answer.

"Hold your breath!"

She managed to take a deep breath before they plunged into the water. She probably should be upset. Casey was going to kill them when they got back to their hotel room soaking wet. But she didn't care.

She surfaced at the same time as Chuck. Chuck turned to her, a silly, playful smile on his face. More importantly, that wonderful light in his eyes was there, shining brighter than it had since they had wheeled him away from the interrogation room. She couldn't help but laugh as relief and joy filled her.

Chuck was going to be just fine.

* * *

_A/N: I can't believe that it's done! I really, really wanted to end the story on a nice, positive note as the story started off quite dark. Perhaps I was a little heavy handed with the "happy, happy", but I couldn't stop myself! I was smiling pretty much the whole time as I wrote the epilogue. Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading! -DRM-_


End file.
